This invention relates to a liquid distributor valve assembly and more particularly to such an assembly for successively directing liquid from a source to each of a plurality of delivery conduits.
Distributor assemblies for successively delivering water from a source to each of a plurality of delivery conduits for finite periods of time are well known. A typical example is such a distributor utilized in a pool cleaning system such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,489. In the arrangement disclosed in this patent water is pumped to the inlet of a distributor containing a plurality of exit openings and provided with means for successively opening one outlet at a time while keeping the other outlets closed. Delivery conduits lead from the respective outlets to different positions of the pool wall so that jets of water can be discharged to these individual positions for selected periods of time to sweep dirt off of the walls and into suspension in the pool water from which it can be collected for filtering. In many of these type arrangements, including the one disclosed in the above patent, a motor or the like has been required to operate the distributor for shifting the water flow from one outlet to the next.
In order to avoid the expense and maintenance problems associated with the use of a motor in this type of environment, it has also been suggested to pump water into an actuator housing and successively release it through a plurality of outlets by the use of pistons disposed at the outlets and arranged so that when the water is emitted within a piston past a ball valve the piston is pushed down to close the outlet. However, in these arrangements the piston and ball devices are relatively fragile, can become easily clogged, and are, therefore, unsuitable for reliable free operation for relatively long periods of time.
Still other arrangements to distribute fluid in the foregoing manner involve the use of a gear train located between a fluid actuated impeller and the valve member, usually in the form of a rotatable disc, to apply a relatively large torque to the valve member in proportion to the torque on the impeller, to insure that the rotation of the valve member will not be easily impeded. However, in these type arrangements the gear assembly, and especially the final gear-pinion unit is subjected to failure due to the high torque being transmitted between the impeller and the valve disc.
Also, in arrangements of the above type in which the valve is in the form of a disc that rotates relative to a plurality of outlets, the frictional contact between the disc and the valve seats associated with the outlets is relatively high. This tends to cause the valve disc to stop during its rotation and, in addition, creates relatively high wear on the disc and the seats.